Few years ago, the “Tongan News” had published a eulogy in praise of the late Mr Lee Kim Chuan. In the eulogy, it quoted an anecdote by Mr Lee while visiting Maxiang Zhen. When Mr Lee was told of a village near Maxiang that is called 肠仔头 (literally translated as head of the intestine), he jokingly said that since there is 肠仔头, naturally there must be 肠仔尾 (tail of the intestine) also. And it is really a joke as I have found it out that in actual fact, there is another village (Tong Mei Village) near Maxiang, which is called 肠仔尾. However, it is 塘 and not 肠 as pronunciations in Min Nan dialect for both of the words are the same.

The actual name of 塘仔头 is called Tong Zi Village. However, it is commonly called 塘仔头 in local vernacular. Legend has it that there was a huge pond in the village in ancient time. As the settlements were built along the inlet of the pond, therefore the village was named 塘仔头. 塘仔头 has another name called 童子头(literally it means leader of the kids). I learnt it from a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer when I was young. As I had never heard of such name before, I did not know where the village was. After consultation with my grandfather, I was told that the PLA officer was looking for Tong Zi Village, as he had wanted to station the troops there. The officer then requested me to lead the convoy of vehicles consisting trucks, armours, tanks and artilleries to the village. However, on arrival he found that the village was unsuitable for garrison as there was no place to park the vehicles. Eventually, the troops would have to be stationed in my village Zenglin.

I had visited Tong Zi Village during my trip to Xiangan. The purpose of my visit was to see the Cui Ying Primary School where I had studied till primary 5. Unfortunately, the school has been shifted to a new site and the old compound had been demolished. Though the new school buildings look magnificent, it is alien to me and could not arouse my nostalgic feeling.

In response to government’s exhortation on the importance of education, the villagers from Zenglin, Tong Zi and Shen Jing had pooled their resources to build a modern school on the border of Zenglin and Tong Zi. The school will be used to house the students from all the three villages. When the new school is in operation, the existing schools in their respective villages will be phased out. In view that Tong Zi had bore the lion’s share of the construction costs, priority was given to the village to name the new school. I was told that the school will retain the name of Cui Ying Primary School.